The Engines of Dawn by Paul Cook Read Free Book Online Page B

her again.
    The doctor penned a few more notes. "And the time before that?"
    "That would have been-" That would have been Jamie Schisler the semester before. But Ms. Schisler had certain fetishes she had never warned him about. He found out about them when he was bound and gagged and Ms. Schisler brought out the whips. She did look great in high heels, however.
    "I can't remember," he said. "Sorry."
    The doctor scribbled more notes.
    "Look. Are there any medicines I can take for this?" Ben asked. "That would be the easiest."
    Dr. Larsen nodded agreeably. "Well, yes, there are a few things I could prescribe. Some stimulants as well as a few behavioral exercises you can do two or three times a day-"
    She dropped her clipboard.
    Ben felt his stomach lurch.
    The room seemed to heave slightly.
    "Oh!" Dr. Larsen said. She stumbled backward. She then folded her arms across her stomach and bent over.
    Ben jumped off the examination table. Something was terribly wrong. In the outer ward, glass objects crashed to the floor and several people let out cries of bewilderment or screams of terror.
    Dr. Larsen fell back into the only chair in the room, her face gone chalk white, and the air in front of Ben's eyes shimmered. It seemed as if the ship itself-the actual vessel-had become violently ill, convulsing at an atomic level.
    Then the nausea went away and the room ceased vibrating. All was still.
    Ben knew exactly what had happened: The Enamorati had shut down the Engine and the molecules of their bodies had rushed to reposition themselves back where they ought to be from their trans-space compressions.
    Ben stood up shakily. "Someone's just shut the Engine off."
    "We're not supposed to leave trans-space for another two weeks!" the doctor said, rising from her chair.
    Ben thought of the ill-fated Annette Haven … and of the large hole that had so recently been gouged in the physics department's alpha lab.
    He fervently hoped that he wouldn't blow up in the middle of his next thought.
     
     

8
     
     
    Transition into and out of trans-space usually caused a mild dis-orientation, which was why transition couches were fixtures in every room of the ship. But this transition had been downright ugly.
    Recovering his poise, Ben ripped off his examination gown, stepped back into his clothing puddle, then made his way out of the student health center. Dr. Larsen would have real afflictions to deal with now.
    In the outer corridor, Ben found every wall flush with the Cloudman's visage and the sound of his voice ordering everyone to buckle into their transition couches, which in Ben's case was in his dorm room.
    Ben found a transit portal and shot back to Babbitt Hall. There, he found Jim Vees on his knees in the hallway, dazed. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of underwear, having been yanked from a deep sleep.
    "Do you know what happened?" Vees asked.
    "I think the captain's turned the Engine off. We're in real-space now."
    "Why?"
    "I don't know," Ben said.
    On the 2D in Ben's room, they caught Cleddman in the middle of some sort of explanation. The pilot was saying, "-we now have word from the Kuulo Kuumottoomaa that the Engine has been stabilized. The Kaks are determining our new position in real-space, and as soon as we know where we are, we can begin calling for assistance, if we need it."
    "Ix on a stick!" the former astronomy student said. "Something happened to our Engine?"
    Ben nodded.
    On the screen the Cloudman said, "I've called for a Code Three emergency. Stand by. Watch your screens."
    The 2D went blank.
    "Isn't he going to tell us what happened to the goddamned Engine?" Vees asked. "And what is a Code Three emergency?"
    "Let's find out," Ben said. To the video screen, Ben said, "Screen on. Main menu. Emergencies. Definitions. All codes."
    The 2D scrolled out: EMERGENCY CODE ONE: MALFUNCTIONS; INTERNAL THREATS TO THE SHIP-I.E., GRAVITY; ATMOSPHERE; ELECTRICAL; WATER SERVICES. EMERGENCY CODE TWO: EXTERNAL THREATS-I.E., COLLISION